R33 Cooler piping setup

[BLakniTE]

Hey all,

Can I please get pics of different ways ppl have run there aftermarket front mount cooler piping.

A few kits I have seen send the piping back behind the cooler and through the original position. Personally, Im not a fan because I prefer the shorter ways, the more effective way, BUT......I am puzzled on piping direction to get done......if can be done.

thanks

[krzysiu]

My Piping

Many skylines have set ups like this, but you need to drill a hole

[nitemare5]

the way that kryzsiu has his piping done is the most common way for the r33's (the way that most jap kits have). But if you need to get custom piping fabricated, then you can shorter the piping by getting a 120 degree bend from the pipe that goes right before the plenum. I'm not sure if i explained it right, but im sure sydneykid will jump in and correct me

[Trust33]

Yeah im not sydney kid but the pipe that goes over the motor with the stock bov is replaced with the 120degree bent pipe and the cooler pipe connects.This way you will need a custom bov fabricated to your install.

right

[Husky33]

i have a Blitz fmic kit, with the pipe running back under the intercooler into the stock positions. U may think this is longer but no way, it is actually one of the most effective piping designs u can have.

Here is a dodgey diagram(hey it's 1.30am, i'm tired..lol)

As you can see with the setup the Blitz kit uses, unlike most coolers the inlet and outlet sides on the cooler are opposite. Why do this? Well the pipe that goes from the right hand side of the cooler to the intake manifold is the shortest possible route, which means the most important cold air will stay cooler than having it run across the other side and halfway across the engine bay.

THe pipe from the turbo to the cooler is longer than other kits where it would normally enter the cooler on the passenger side, but as this air is hot it actually cools down slightly as it must travel along the straight pipe goin under the cooler....alot of air hit this pipe which cools it down, which means the hot air from the turbo is actually being slightly cooled down before it actually enters the intercooler

Trust me their is no extra lag in this setup, just a huge difference in the delivery of power. It is the most effective way i believe to have piping setup for an rb20/25 engine.

[Trust33]

Since we are in the diagram drawing mood i thought i could better explain to u what it looks like..This is without the bov's but it shows u the different routes taken to get to the intercooler pipe.

P.S.Nice cooler drawing 180_mph

[Trust33]

here we are 120 all the wayyyyyy.

[nitemare5]

thanks for that trust33

[smok74]

The other way is to go to Unique Autosports and check out their aftermarket inlet manifold/ FMIC package for the '33. It replaces the inlet manifold with an aftermarket version and relocates the throttle body and has it facing forwards, this way, only a short piece of piping is required between the FMIC and the throttle body on the drivers side.

A mate of mine has a RB30ET in a R31, The original inlet is similar to the RB25DET with the throttle body facing across the top of the rocker cover, when he got his FMIC, the engineer that installed it hacked up his inlet and had the throttle body moved to the forwards position, the actual manifold looks like it was cut up into many pieces and re-welded together. Tell you what tho, the aluminium welding was top class and it works beautifully - 220rwkw / 16psi with a RB30 ! cant wait until he gets his new RB25 head on there...... Anyways, I'm in the same boat at the moment deciding how far I wanna take this mod, I think the first thing you have to decide is if you want to relocate the throttle body, if so, either get a aftermarket inlet manifold (anywhere from $1500 to $2500 ?) or have your existing one modified by someone that understands the concept of 'flow' and also aluminium welding. Otherwise a simple Blitz kit should do the job. Remember this, it cost my friend $1700 for the whole conversion which includes the FMIC, piping, mod to his inlet and also a Z32 AFM plus installation, compare that to the same price for the Blitz kit which DOES NOT include install.

[smok74]

Personally, I'd piss on the idea of the 120 degree pipe and have the throttle body relocated. Ask yourself this, she's ya pride n joy, WHY F*CKIN HALF BAKE IT?

[smok74]

If anyone in Sydney is interested in this throttle body relocation mod, email me at [email protected] and I'll find out the name and address of the engineer where my mate (with the R31/RB30ET) had his done. Believe me, it's well worth it, he went from 171rwkw - 12psi to 220rwkw - 16psi with just $1700 ! I think it's the cheapest 50rwkw money can buy.

[|PRESA|]

Might I just ad that instead of spending $1700 on a thottle body relocation kit to be specifically engineer, why not just buy the Greddy Intake plenum for $1400 brand new..

Ehh??

[nitemare5]

he must've gotten some other things done at the same time, cos i find it hard to believe that with a throttle body relocation he gained 50rwkw with just an extra 2 psi boost. if anything it'd change the response for sure.

[Gizmo73]

Hi Guys..

Relocating the throttle body has been pretty controversial in regards to engine life, etc etc..

Do a search, you will find a few thread on this.

The train of thought goes something like you relocate the throttle body, you can possibly lean out some cylinders - there was a reason why Nissan put the TB where is is.

Although, i suppose if you have a power FC and are happy to tune specifically, the TB relocation could have some good gains..

However, is it worth it to save a few bucks in piping, even though it hasnt been proven that performance is affected ??

[rd-runr]

Totally agree with Gizmo73!

Do a search about the throttle body issue! This topic has been covered in depth. In short there is a bee's dick gain from doing this as the stock TB is good up to 300rwkw or there abouts! Spend your money on something more beneficial.

As for intercooler piping, I'd have to agree that the blitz kit piping would be the easiest and most beneficial. I've got a Trust kit with piping like krzysiu and have noticed that the top piping gets heated up by the engine, which defeats the perpose of the cooling!

[Jordan]

As you can see with the setup the Blitz kit uses, unlike most coolers the inlet and outlet sides on the cooler are opposite. Why do this? Well the pipe that goes from the right hand side of the cooler to the intake manifold is the shortest possible route, which means the most important cold air will stay cooler than having it run across the other side and halfway across the engine bay.  

THe pipe from the turbo to the cooler is longer than other kits where it would normally enter the cooler on the passenger side, but as this air is hot it actually cools down slightly as it must travel along the straight pipe goin under the cooler....alot of air hit this pipe which cools it down, which means the hot air from the turbo is actually being slightly cooled down before it actually enters the intercooler

Trust me their is no extra lag in this setup, just a huge difference in the delivery of power. It is the most effective way i believe to have piping setup for an rb20/25 engine.

I beg to differ. I had one of these setups and it was a very noticable difference in response with a huge rush in the top of 1st gear. After an accident and I got a new HKS kit with the longer running pipes (across the top of the fan and radiator) it felt better, and the response even better again and it now chirps in the midrange of 1st gear. But then again, the HKS did flow better than the other one that it replaced which was a cut down truck intercooler

The HKS has less back pressure so it gives more midrange torque.

Didnt really answer anything, but I just wanted to disprove this.

Oh, and when the engine is running and the air is flowing, it dosent matter that much where the air is routed. The origional intake crossover pipe is always warm to the touch immediatly after driving and popping the bonnet, but let it sit for 5 mins and it becomes too hot to touch. If you want to be all pedantic about heatsoak, you can get a special gasket thing made from a material that dosent conduct heat and fit it between the throtlebody and the crossover pipe. It will still get hot because its sitting in hot ambient air, but its a lot lot slower than metal to metal transfer.

[Sydneykid]

Wow, I do get quoted a lot.......

I have seen terrible air flow patterns from relocated throttle bodies. I wouldn't do it.

There is verey little difference in the amount of air in the pipes from a relocated throttle body and the 120 degree bend system. There is no risk in the 120 degree bend system.

I have flow bench tested the standard inlet manifold and it shows no discernable restrirction at airflows equivalent to 450 bhp. At that point you are looking at internal upgrades to the engine.

Just because the pipe is hot doesn't mean the air inside the pipe is the same temperature. I have recorded pipe temperatures over 80 degrees with the air inside the pipe at 1 or 2 degrees higher that the intercooler outlet temp (38 degrees). This is because the air flows through the pipe so fast it doesn't have time to heat up. Plus the contact area (air to pipe) is so small it wouldn't make any difference. Compare the short pipe to the size of an intercooler, which also has fins on the inside and the outside, so the contact area is many hundereds of times greater than a round aluminium pipe.

I always use aluminium pipe because it cools down faster than steel, weighs less than stainless steel and doesn't rust like mild steel.

[05YKO_r33]

i have one of the hybrid intercoolers and piping kits on my vehicle and it works well but i found that after a bit of constant auto abuse it got a little hot and didn't perform as well as i thought it should so i wrapped the piping it in that fibreglass ehaust wrap and it worked fantastically.

the wrap covers from the compressor to where the piping leaves the engine bay and from where the piping re-enters the engine bay post intercooler up to the factory piping.

see the link for a picture of this.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/photopost...&cat=500&page=1

[Husky33]

I beg to differ. I had one of these setups and it was a very noticable difference in response with a huge rush in the top of 1st gear. After an accident and I got a new HKS kit with the longer running pipes (across the top of the fan and radiator) it felt better, and the response even better again and it now chirps in the midrange of 1st gear. But then again, the HKS did flow better than the other one that it replaced which was a cut down truck intercooler

The HKS has less back pressure so it gives more midrange torque.

Didnt really answer anything, but I just wanted to disprove this.

Dude u cant dissprove anything or say anything bad about the blitz piping setup because u never had a Bltiz Cooler!!!!!! U say all this bad stuff about the piping, then u tell us it was a truck core! Blitz coolers are one of the best non-drag racing application coolers on the market........ the piping may have not had enything to do with response, as u had a truck core.

All i can say is after installing the cooler, on stock boost there is no response lost at all, dont know about higher boost applications.

[smok74]

If anyone did actually read my entry, I DID suggest an aftermarket kit, getting the TB relocated was just an option that my mate did to his R31. either way, at the end of the day, why take the long way when u can get there the short way? Personally, Unique Autosports' (CASTLE HILL SYDNEY) inlet/FMIC kit which just came out this month is what I'm interested in.